The Most Popular API Pairings May Surprise You

The most popular API, in terms of mashup count, is far and away the Google Maps API, which accounts for 41% of all mashups. But when it comes to the most popular pair of APIs, Flickr and YouTube mashups are the most common. Not to be outdone, Google Maps joins Flickr in a near second place.

One of the recent additions to the most popular pairs is SlideMyPics, an app that creates free HTML 5 slideshows using your photos from Facebook, Photobucket, Smugmug, Picasa and--yep--Flickr. The YouTube integration serves as a soundtrack.

Flickr is also part of the second most popular pairing and this one makes more sense. Flickr has had the ability to geotag photos since before it was cool, so developers have plotted lots of photos on maps. But not everyone combines the two that way. Noms.in (shown below) is a curated restaurant review site and includes beautiful, full Flickr photos, with a small embedded Google Maps to show the way.

Outside of the surprise in first place, the most interesting thing about the top API pairs is that there are nearly 100 Last.fm and YouTube mashups. The two are a great match, with one providing artist and song data, while the other has a sizable collection of music videos.

MoodFM is a random generator of music-video playlists based on the specified mood and genre. You can also include your Last.fm username and it will incorporate your tastes.

If there's a greater trend to pull out here, it's that the most popular API pairs are also some of the most versatile. With more ways to use them, there are bound to be a diverse selection of apps. Look through the links above and let us know some of your favorite mashups

About the author:Adam DuVander
-- Adam heads developer relations at Orchestrate, a database-as-a-service company. He's spent many years analyzing APIs and developer tools. Previously he worked at SendGrid, edited ProgrammableWeb and wrote for Wired and Webmonkey. Adam is also the author of mapping API cookbook Map Scripting 101.